


Good Friends Laugh Around Each Other, But Best Friends Fart Around Each Other.

by pocketsundere



Series: Rekindle. [2]
Category: Gintama
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, but it still has some slight meta commentary, dondakke!!!!, here i am four years later, just them, t h e m, this one's a bit more serious and character driven than the other installment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:22:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22385608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pocketsundere/pseuds/pocketsundere
Summary: The one where Gintoki and Takasugi fess up and get laidAlso Takasugi may or may not have pink eye.Also, farts.
Relationships: Sakata Gintoki/Takasugi Shinsuke
Series: Rekindle. [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1611340
Comments: 5
Kudos: 24





	Good Friends Laugh Around Each Other, But Best Friends Fart Around Each Other.

**Author's Note:**

> AAAAAAAH IT'S BEEN FOUR YEARS, I CAN'T WAIT TO WRITE MORE ABOUT THESE LOSERS

"I'm honestly so glad you finally got a decent bed instead of that god awful futon, Gintoki."

Takasugi made his way inside Gintoki's room. It hadn't changed a lot besides the bed and some Ketsuno Ana posters laying around. He walked past his desk, which, he assumed, was for studying, and noticed a framed photo of Gintoki, Kagura, and Shinpachi. He didn't know why, but it made him very happy, to the point where he actually expressed it with a smile.

He heard the door close with a click, and some footsteps coming his way, he turned around and looked.

"...Yeah, man," Gintoki scratched his back. "It only took about five years. I decided to stop asking my dad to buy me all the _Weekly Shonen Jump_ so I could save some money for a bed."

Takasugi let out a huff. "Idiot."

"I miss _Shonen Jump_ , man, I didn't get the chance to read _Bleach'_ s last chapter."

Gintoki sat on his bed, started picking his nose, and yawned. Takasugi found it kind of cute, but he wasn't going to say it out loud, he still had some dignity left.

"Well, you didn't miss anything, it was shit." Takasugi said softly, almost whispering.

He stared at Gintoki who, for some reason, started to look utterly devastated. He looked stupid, which he also thought it was cute, and this time, he decided to let his dignity loose for a bit. He smiled openly at him, and chuckled.

"Are you fucking crying, you _moron_?"

Gintoki sobbed, though it didn't feel serious. "When will this _Naruto_ curse end?!"

Takasugi walked towards Gintoki, softly slapped his forehead, and called him an idiot again. He then decided to lay on his bed, letting out a sigh.

He stared at the ceiling, not really focusing on anything. He thought about how comfortable he felt right now and how his days before having Gintoki back in his life were filled with uncomfortable and excruciating moments, one after the other. He closed his eye and relaxed. He felt thankful.

He then felt Gintoki's shoulder against his own, he guessed it was because he had adapted a similar position, laying next to him.

"Sugi, _bastard_ , don't you dare fall asleep on my bed."

Takasugi opened his eye and stared at him, falsely annoyed. "I'm not asleep, you goof. Plus, where am I supposed to sleep tonight?"

Gintoki gave him one of his trademark deadpanned expressions. "Next to the trash can, it suits you."

His annoyed façade went a little further as he slapped him playfully.

"I'm gonna kick you!"

He continued slapping him, making sure it wasn't too hard while at it.

Gintoki started groaning, fighting back. "And...I'm...going to...kick you...into...the trash...can!"

He grabbed Takasugi's wrist as if to stop him. Takasugi was taken aback by this, and showed it by staring directly into his eyes. He suddenly felt flustered and he wished that the author would stop putting him in such intense scenes.

"Oi, Sugi."

Takasugi composed himself. "What?"

"Happy Birthday."

He looked away, a bit embarrassed. "Y-you already said that, dumbass."

"Eh, I tend to forget things when I'm really drunk." Gintoki replied, still facing him.

"You're such a moron, you're always forgetting things."

Gintoki suddenly pulled a funny expression. " _Huh_? Did something important happen today? Could it be the birthday of a runt who's cursed with not being able to grow an inch even? _Takasugi-kun_?"

Takasugi rolled his eyes and punched him in the stomach. "Eat it, you idiot."

"Bet you'd like that, _huh_?" Gintoki changed positions to sit on the bed. He wiggled his eyebrows with a dumb-looking smile.

 _I hate him so much_ , he thought as his cheeks turned red. "Shut up!"

He scratched his head a bit, and softly touched his eyepatch. He felt a bit of pain on his blind eye. It happened from time to time, it was caused by his eye being covered all the time, not letting its skin breathe. Eye drops usually did the trick, but it's not like he was carrying that stuff around with him at all times. He started to wish that were the case, since his eye was starting to really hurt now.

His eyebrow twitched as a rush of pain suddenly came to his eye. He breathed heavily, and slowly let the air out. Once the pain diminished he decided to look at Gintoki again, only to find out he was already staring at him.

"You okay, man?" Gintoki asked, and he sounded genuinely worried.

Takasugi relaxed as he sensed his worry. "I'm fine, you dork, don't worry."

Gintoki started to cough awkwardly and turned his gaze away from him. Takasugi saw as he started to scratch the back of his neck. "So... _uhm_...I-I have this... _uhh_...thing for you...a gift...it's whatever, ya know, no big deal or anything."

He let out a weird laugh and then paused. "Stop staring at me like that!", he yelled.

Once Takasugi got a good look of Gintoki's face, he realised how red it was. "You weren't even looking at me, idiot!"

"I know, I _just_ -!"

Gintoki kneeled and threw a package towards him. Takasugi grabbed it quickly and stared at it, dumbfunded.

"Here," Gintoki breathed out and sat on the bed once again. "...Happy birthday."

Takasugi continued to look at it. It was a purple package with a golden ribbon. It was quite beautiful, so much so he stared at it for a while, and then, at last, decided to open it, his fingers trembling while doing so.

He wanted to gasp, but only managed to blink several times at its content. He felt shock, but not that kind of shock that sends him spinning, like when his dad stabbed him in the eye or when he used to beat his mom right in front of him. It was the type of shock that was so overwhelming he felt like crying, like crying pure tears of joy, of happiness.

He tried to calm himself down before grabbing the object, he had to be careful, it was a pocket knife after all, and, by the looks of it, it was really expensive. Its handle was covered with what looked like purple leather. His initials were engraved in it as well, golden plated.

Before he got the chance to say something, Gintoki broke the silence. "Do you like it, or nah?"

Takasugi chuckled at how easy-going Gintoki was being despite the situation being all kinds of overwhelming. He sniffed, avoiding getting choked up.

He started swinging the knife around, waving it through the air. I felt nice against his palm, like it was made for him. He chuckled again.

"Gonna take that as a yes."

He did a couple of tricks he remembered from his childhood days, tricks that he had taught him. He was a bit rusty, but not hopeless.

"Oi, dumbass, you're gonna cut something. Quit it." Gintoki got close to him and poked his face several times.

"Maybe I want to cut something."

Gintoki scoffed. "Don't you dare cut me, or I'll make sure my ghost haunts you for the rest of your life."

A smile creeped on Takasugi's lips. "We'll see."

He patted the package once again and felt something off about its texture. He frowned and looked at his hand. His conflicted expression deepened as he realized it had a soft layer of dust on it. He blew it and coughed, confused.

"Gintoki, why is the box so dirty? Don't tell me you have rats living in here?"

Gintoki slowly turned his head to meet his eyes. He looked nervous, and a bit freaked out. He let out an awkward laugh. " _Hahahaha_ , I'm suddenly feeling very sleepy."

Takasugi frowned once again and pushed Gintoki softly. "Don't fuck around, just tell me."

He looked conflicted, so Takasugi gave him time to sort his thoughts. Gintoki coughed and scratched his cheek. "It's just, uhhh, that was a present for your, ah, _fuck_ -!"

Another pause.

"It was a present for your 12th birthday. I wasn't able to, _uhm_ , you know, give it to you, because we...got into a huge fight and you stopped talking to me, so, I never had the chance to give it to you, until now. That's it, _happy_? It was nothing, just forget about it."

They sat there in silence. Takasugi was speechless, and almost heartbroken as he remembered his fight with Gintoki, and the things he yelled at him, all an exact word-by-word copy of what his father thought about him. He had hurt his friend, the same friend who taught him how to fight and how to defend himself, how to use a knife.

 _A knife_ , he thought. He stared at his present and held it once again, feeling its sharp edge against his fingers. He offered Gintoki a tender smile, which made the boy blush.

"Ah, _what the fuck_!" Gintoki threw him a pillow. "Don't do that ever again!"

"Do what?"

Gintoki seemed to be panicking. It was amusing. "Smile! It looks creepy when you do it! Doesn't suit you _at all_! At all! I'm scared!"

He stayed silent for a couple of seconds and then laughed. He covered his smile with his hand. "You're such an idiot, Gintoki."

Sighing, he calmed his laughter and glanced at Gintoki. He stood up and made his way right where he was sitting, at the edge of the bed. He sat next to him and put his hands together. Neither of them said anything for a while.

"Hey, Sugi." Gintoki whispered, startling him.

" _Fuck_ , you scared me!" He slapped his bicep and let out a breath, "what?"

"Do you remember when we--- you know..."

"What?"

Gintoki looked flustered. "When we, uhm, ki-kissed...and stuff..."

That's right. _Fuck_. He always had it in the back of his head but never had the courage to actually analyse and contemplate all the decisions he made that night. It almost became a blur, not because it didn't mean anything to him, but because he just wasn't strong enough to deal with it. He was a complete fucking coward.

He started to blush heavily, not being able to control it. He got a hold of Gintoki's collar, and shook him. "Why would you bring that up _now_ , of all times, you idiot?!"

Gintoki looked desperate. "I don't know! It just popped into my head! And now I'm thinking about donuts! And Ketsuno Ana!"

"Stop thinking about Ketsuno Ana when we're talking about that time we made out!"

Both looked at each other as silence spread between them. Takasugi let go of him and decided to keep his distance by turning his back to him. He then looked over his shoulder. _God_ , he was so red in the face. He crossed his arms and suddenly felt grumpy.

He quickly glanced at Gintoki, then at the floor, then at Gintoki again. Once he settled for the floor he said, softly, "Of course I remember, you goof."

He heard Gintoki gasp shortly. Takasugi cleared his throat. "It just--- I just didn't feel like you wanted to talk about it, and, it feels like it's been years since it happened. Four years, to be precise."

Gintoki breathed heavily, and it kind of sounded funny. "It's because the author hasn't written a sequel in four years. She's worse than the _Hanger x Hanger_ mangaka. Plus, this sequel isn't even that funny."

Takasugi hummed. They stayed silent again.

"You know, I just wanted to see if you remembered." Gintoki said softly, "Just in case it was a dream, _a shonen ai dream_ , or something, I don't know."

He laughed. "Why would you dream about that? Dumbo, I think that would be more of a nightmare to you."

His laughter died out when he looked at Gintoki, who had a smile painted on his face. He looked sad, for some reason, but not quite.

"Not really." Gintoki said, smiling still.

Takasugi blinked at him, then grabbed his face and kissed him deeply. And he understood what he meant about how it didn't feel like a nightmare. The way he was holding him while moving his lips against his, the way he was gasping, the way he was moving his body, none of them felt like they belonged in one. Not at all.

God.

 _God_ , there was something in his chest that felt as if it was going to burst at any moment. But it really wasn't on his top priorities. He didn't want to stop. Not the kissing, or the hugging, or the soft moans.

They were already laying in bed when Gintoki started kissing his neck. Though the way he was unbuttoning his shirt in order to lower his kisses felt familiar, this was different from the last time. It was weird but it felt... _definitive_. There was nothing hanging loose in the air, no questions floating around...

He wanted Gintoki, and Gintoki wanted him.

He let out a deep moan when Gintoki caressed his thigh while continuing to kiss his neck. He couldn't believe that sound came from his mouth, but he was too much in a haze to really care. Gintoki left his neck to stare at him. As he stared back he knew that he wasn't going to shame him for it, or tease him. Takasugi let out a quick breath and kissed him again, and again, and _again_ , holding him by the neck, caressing his loose hair strands.

His breath against his skin made him shiver, made him want Gintoki like crazy. He didn't know if he could keep at it much longer. No one had ever touched him quite like this, in fact, nobody had touched him at all. So he wasn't exactly an expert, though Gintoki seemed to be one.

"Gintoki..." he whispered, letting out a soft moan afterwards.

He shifted a bit then instantly regretted it. He felt a shock of pain land straight into his eye. He hissed in pain and bit his lip. "... _Fuck_."

Gintoki shifted as well, but instead sat on the bed, right next to him. "Sugi, you okay?"

"I'm fine."

He felt the need to hold his hand, and to cry as well. He was so overwhelmed he couldn't really tell what he was feeling at the moment. If there was one thing he was certain of, is that he felt safe. He felt like he belonged.

"Is it your eyepatch?"

Takasugi gave up, and looked down awkwardly. "Yeah."

"Take it off."

"No," he said, frowning in pain. "I...can't. I just, I _can't_."

"Come on, man."

"I said no, quit it already!"

_You fucked it up. Your dad was right, you're a fuck-up. And you'll be filled with hatred for the rest of your life. Incapable of opening up, of creating bonds. Incapable of loving. Useless._

He pressed his hand against his eye and breathed heavily. He was about to lose it, right in front of Gintoki, just when he got him back, he was going to lose him again. All because of--

"Sugi," Gintoki interrupted his thoughts. "Let me have a look, I'm not gonna hurt you, dummy. It's okay."

Takasugi sat and hugged his knees, sniffing. He made eye contact with Gintoki.

_I believe you._

"Okay."

◇◇◇

Gintoki wasn't bad with first-aid kits at all. Takasugi stared at all the procedures that lead to him getting his eye, or lack thereof, clean, and how dedicated he seemed to be during each and every one of them.

He started by cleaning up all the discharge on his eyelid and his eyelashes. He did it so tenderly, Takasugi almost melted into the touch, but stopped himself from doing so.

He instead looked at him while he was cleaning, just to see any signs of disgust. Nothing. He just seemed extremely focused, and that's what really freaked him out. He felt very embarrassed, to be seen this exposed, this fragile. But that feeling eventually came to pass as Gintoki continued cleaning his eye, as gentle as possible.

They looked at each other throughout most of the cleansing until Takasugi felt too overwhelmed to look him back. He sighed and closed his eye, feeling his finger tips on his cheek. 

After that, Gintoki made a solution with hot water and salt. He brought a warm towel with him as well. He said he read on the internet that it's good for eye infections.

"There's little to nothing left of my eye." Takasugi commented. "How can I have an eye infection?"

"Shut up." Said Gintoki as he slapped his head.

When Gintoki pressed the warm towel, which had absorbed some of the solution against his eyelid, Takasugi just sighed in relief. The warmth felt incredibly nice.

Then the salt reached his eyeball and he hissed. "Fuck."

"Be a man!"

"I am one, you idiot." He grabbed Gintoki's hand and slowly pushed it away from the towel, so he himself could hold it. "...Thank you."

Gintoki sniffed, though he didn't look like he was crying at all. "It's no problem, you dummy, just take care of your eye. And get a new eye patch, that thing was all black inside."

He poked Takasugi's forehead. "Just because you can't see with it doesn't mean you shouldn't watch over it."

Takasugi removed the towel from his eye after making sure it was all cleaned up. He put it on top of Gintoki's nightstand, and sighed.

The pain was gone.

He looked at him, held the hand that was still on his forehead tightly, and pressed his head against his belly. He sighed once again.

He felt a hand on his back, which made him curl up against him. He felt whole.

"Fine," Gintoki said, seemingly annoyed, "Don't sleep near the trash can."

"Jeez, thanks, your majesty."

"I know, Sugi-chan, I'm such a good person." He said with a high-pitched voice.

Suddenly, silence reigned yet once again, but he didn't care, all he cared about was in the middle of it all, them holding each other tightly, and not letting go.

◇◇◇

"Are you fucking serious?" Takasugi pushed Gintoki so hard he almost fell out of the bed. "Did you seriously just fart?!"

"Hey! It's my bed, you bastard! I wouldn't mind if you farted in it!"

Takasugi rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to fart in your bed, idiot!"

He pushed him too hard this time around, he ended up falling. "Sugi, you bastard! I fell on my butt!"

"Good! Maybe you'll stop farting, then!"

Gintoki stood up. "I will never, ever stop farting."

They frowned at each other for way too long. Finally, Takasugi rubbed his face with his hand, and glanced over at him. "You're such an idiot, come here."

And, just a couple of seconds after that, he could feel his warmth again. He relaxed and held him closer.

"Sorry about your butt", Takasugi whispered, "But if you fart again, I'm gonna murder you."

Gintoki laughed against his hair. "We'll see."

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry if this one isn't as silly as the first one. After chapter 703, I thought they deserved something a bit more serious, while still maintaining the charm and shenanigans of their relationship.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
